Quick post about troubleshooting issues with my Brother XR65 and a video of how a sewing machine’s “guts” work.
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Obviously this month has been a month for taking stuff apart… first the dryer, now my sewing machine. I have a Brother XR 65 and this thing is a serious trooper. Very few issues with the machine and I’ve had it since 2006 or so (granted I only have been using it solid for the past four years).
It’s never been serviced, beyond me personally cleaning dust out. It wasn’t an expensive machine so I really don’t want to spend a ton of money on bringing it to be serviced.
I’ve also been loathe to replace it because even though it’s not the fanciest machine, I know my way around it very well.
So when the lights started flickering, then the power and light went off, then came back on, repeat, I thought for sure this was “it.”
NooooooooOoOooOoOooo!! I talked to my husband about it and seeing he loves to tinker with stuff, he decided to take it apart.
Worse case, we have to replace the machine. Best case, I get more time out of this machine.
This is a video of the original problem with the machine, as well as how it looks running with all the covers and plastic pieces taken off. It was so neat to watch!
The good news? Nothing is wrong with the actual machine. Haha.
The bad news is we wasted time opening everything up just to figure out that my power cord is DYING.
Easy to replace and I found the part on Amazon (affiliate link below) for CHEAP. Dodged a bullet there. Too bad I didn’t try swapping out my cord on my Brother serger with this one to test BEFORE we did all the extra work.
I’m still debating whether buying an additional cord is strictly necessary seeing the one I have can work on both my serger and sewing machine. It might be easier to have less cords at my feet.
I can still use the other cord somewhat, but it’s touch and go.
Regardless, I love having a chance to look at the “guts” of machines we use in our homes every day… it gives us an opportunity to consider all that has to work to keep them working properly and all that went into making them.
We’ve come a long way since horse drawn carriages and wood stoves. We’ve come a long way before that too.
I really appreciate that my Brother equipment has all been very reliable so far… I had to use their customer service only once for my embroidery machine and the representative was able to pinpoint my issue in under 2 minutes… fastest I’ve ever had a problem fixed. It was so awesome.
Not needing to call customer service is a huge benefit to a well made product, but getting efficient customer service when you call is even better.